It was a year late, but the Dec. 1 midseason finale of ‘The Walking Dead’ finally delivered the epic, bloody battle the show had been promising since the introduction of The Governor in 2012. Thankfully, the mayhem in ‘Too Far Gone’ paid off, and set the stage for a much better show in 2014. Don’t read on if you don’t want to find out who died on ‘Walking Dead’!

The Walking Dead fans felt cheated when the Season 3 finale failed to deliver the big battle between Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and The Governor (David Morrissey) that everyone had been expecting. The Dec. 1 midseason finale of the show finally gave us that battle, and to say it will drastically change the course of the series is an understatement. With a gaggle of main characters dead and Rick separated from the rest of his gang, 2014 is looking to be The Walking Dead‘s bloodiest year yet.

‘The Walking Dead': Hershel & The Governor Die As The Prison Burns

The Governor didn’t just threaten Rick Grimes’ comfortable prison life — he exploded it. Literally. The Governor rolled in with tanks and machine guns, and by the time the dust was settled and the (many) casualties were tallied up, hundreds of Walkers had invaded and rendered the whole place unlivable. This means, for the first time since Season 1, The Walking Dead will leave a comfortable environment (remember Hershel’s farm?) and send its band of survivors back on the road. I can’t wait to see what this will look like with the show’s expanded budget — we’ve been quarantined with these dudes in that dank, grimy prison for ages, so sending them back out into the world opens up limitless possibilities, story wise.

This is all very exciting, and I suppose The Governor finally served his purpose by marching in, beheading the wonderful Hershel (Scott Wilson) in front of his daughters Ned Stark-style, and inciting a battle that most likely lead to the death of Rick’s baby daughter, Judith. We all needed a fresh start, and that one-eyed creep was the perfect man for the job.

Should he have done this “job” last spring? Absolutely. Did we need two Governor-centric episodes to remind us of what a jerk he was before it all went down? Absolutely not. That’s why finally killing him off at the end of the episode was a wonderful move. (Though I must admit, I’m baffled as to why they had Lilly pull the trigger. Couldn’t our girl Michonne have been given that honor?) The Governor has been the show’s main adversary for far too long (1.5 seasons, to be exact), and let’s be honest — we were all getting sick of that guy. It’s time to move on, and eliminating the show’s comfortable home and main villain in one fell swoop was a great decision.

‘The Walking Dead': But What Of Baby Judith?

Of course, it wouldn’t be a solid midseason finale without a cliffhanger, and leaving Rick and Carl with baby Judith’s bloody baby seat was a doozy. I’m still conflicted as to whether or not Judith should live — it’s not like she adds a lot to the show since she’s, you know, a baby, but getting rid of her might send Rick straight back to that dark place that weighed the show down back in Season 3. (No more ghostly apparitions, please!)

Since blowing up prison life and axing Hershel was already such a huge move for the show, I’m not sure if they need Judith’s death to continue this explosive momentum going forward. The danger of being on the road and the devastation from losing Hershel should be plenty enough to light Walking Dead‘s fire — we don’t need a depressing dead baby plot to emotionally bring things down.

But what do you think, HollywoodLifers? Are you glad that the prison and The Governor are gone? Should Judith live?